The Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) have been successful in the field of robotics. The basic function has been described by Dr. Larry Matthies in M. Maimone, A. Johnson, Y. Cheng, R. Willson, L Matthies, “Autonomous Navigation Results from the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Mission,” Springer Tracts in Advanced Robotics, Vol. 21, pp. 3-13 Mar. 2006. The rovers have acquired and transmitted an enormous amount of scientific data over the past few years. Much of this data has been obtained through use of an Instrument Deployment Device (IDD), a cluster of instruments mounted on a 5-depth of field (DOF) robotic arm. The arm is stowed during navigation and deployed once a mobile base of the rover has moved into position close enough to a target (e.g., a rock formation). For example, a microscopic imager may require precise placement relative to the target to acquire accurate, in-focus images of the feature. This requires human operators to work with scientists to identify points of interest and plan routes to navigate the mobile base toward the target. After one or two navigation cycles (each taking a day), the operators send a list of commands to the IDD, which deploys the instrument and takes requested measurements. Accuracy of the measurements may depend upon precision with which the IDD can place the instruments relative to the target. Because of multiple instructions may be required to place the instruments, and thus multiple messages are sent to and received by the rover, the process of acquiring measurements once a target has been identified can require multiple Martian days (referred to as “sols”) due to time required to receive instructions (e.g., rovers are commanded with new directives every sol).
Existing technology related to control of autonomous vehicles typically separates control of a mobile base of a scientific exploration rover from control of onboard robotic arms. Separation of the control requires human intervention once the mobile base of the rover has moved into position in order to receive instructions regarding arm deployment for placing scientific instruments at a desired target.
In addition, in the case of planetary exploration, for distances that exceed a field of view of a set of cameras controlling positioning of the robotic arm on the rover, it may be necessary to first identify the target using a secondary set of cameras. En route to the target, the rover would then transfer a field of view of the target and control of the mobile robotic arm from the secondary set of cameras to a set of cameras that will eventually perform the final precision positioning. When performing a transfer of the target, it can be difficult to relocate the target using the new set of cameras.
Similar problems exist in other applications. For example, when a forklift operator attempts to engage a pallet located tens of feet above a truck, a view angle makes alignment of the fork with the pallet difficult. Some forklifts include cameras used for guiding both the forks and a mobile base of the forklift, and are rigidly mounted to the body of the forklift. The cameras' range of view may be incapable of seeing both the ground level as well as pallets located in high shelves. To enable engagement of pallets in high shelves, a set of cameras may be positioned on the fork carriage itself. Thus, as the forks move upwards through a vertical range, the cameras' fields of view will include the pallets in that range that the forks are capable of engaging. With two sets of cameras on the same forklift vehicle, there may be a need to transition visual target information from the cameras on the forklift body to the cameras traveling with the forks.